A11 NEW ZEALAND - CHRISTCHURCH
A11.1 OVERVIEW
A summary description of Christchurch and key recycling data are presented in Table A11.1
Table A11.1 Overview of Christchurch
City
Background
Population
Density
Details
324 500 (June 1999)
20.9 /km2 (1999)
Type of area 97% urban
Type of housing Detached: 75% detached;
Semi-detached: 24%.
Definition of
MSW
Hazardous and non hazardous waste in the commercial and residential sectors; parks and garden waste.
Recycling target No specific recycling target. There is a waste minimisation target of 30% by 2005.
Recycling achievement
N/A
Principal recycling drivers
 environmental commitment at national and
 regional level;
 good separate collection activities; public awareness.
There are no formal national recycling targets in New
Zealand. The current Labour Government had in its preelection agenda a 40 per cent reduction of MSW by 2010, although this target has not yet been formally adopted.

In Christchurch, there is a waste minimisation target of 30 per cent by 2005, as well as a goal of zero waste to landfill by
2020, both established by the City Council. The long term objective for the current waste management plan is to reduce the rate per person of solid waste going to landfill by:
 14 per cent by 2000;
 30 per cent by 2005;
 100 per cent by 2020 (or by the time the new regional landfill is filled).
A11.2 RECYCLING TRENDS
Kerbside collection has taken place in Christchurch over the past two years, offering limited insights into recycling trends.
The recovery rate of recyclables collected in Christchurch is reported to be extremely high because sorting occurs on the truck and labels are placed on rejected material. Around 1 per cent of collected recyclable material is residual waste.
In Christchurch over the period 1998 to 1999, 64 per cent of domestic waste recycled was green waste and 22 per cent paper. Figure A11.1
provides a breakdown of material recycled by type and quantity.
Figure A11.1 Kerbside collection of domestic waste,
(1998/99)

Around 95 per cent of total recycling in the municipality is accounted for by the commercial sector. The majority of waste recycled in the commercial sector is paper.
A11.3 WASTE MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
Christchurch City Council has overall responsibility for collection and treatment of municipal waste. These operations are contracted out on a five year basis.
A11.4 COLLECTION FACILITIES AND
ACCESSIBILITY
Kerbside collection was introduced in Christchurch in May
1998 and early indications suggest that this has been extremely successful. All households and businesses in
Christchurch have access to weekly separate collection at the kerbside. For the domestic sector, one green bin is provided for each household for the collection of newspaper and corrugated cardboard, egg trays and cartons, tin cans, aluminium cans, plastics and glass. Commingled recyclables are sorted on the collection trucks.
Domestic and commercial operators deliver garden waste to the Council’s three refuse stations. The charge for dropping off green waste is less than the refuse fee. Green waste is transported to the Christchurch City Council’s central composting facility.
Recyclable and reusable materials can be dropped off for free at the resource recovery centres at the Council’s three refuse stations. A new service started in May 2000 where refuse station staff assist people to sort reusable and recyclable materials from their refuse. Waste deposited at recycling
centres is charged by weight. 52 black bags
[1]
are provided
for collection of refuse. The bags are collected weekly from all areas with the exception of the central business district where the collection is nightly due to a higher density of businesses.
Commercial businesses are able to participate in the kerbside collection although this fact has not been advertised. The service is the same as for domestic waste. Businesses receive one bin (paid for by rates) and may purchase up to four additional bins. Many smaller businesses with waste similar to households use the kerbside collection bins. However, larger businesses tend to use private collectors.

The following activities were carried out prior to the introduction of city wide kerbside collection:



 a kerbside collection trial; market research into attitudes and behaviour regarding waste minimisation and recycling; recycling centres were closed; information packs which were sent out with the green recycling bins.
A11.4.1 Participation Rate
A survey, carried out in August 1998, found 69 per cent of households participated in kerbside collection in winter and
72 per cent participated in summer.
A11.5 COSTS AND REVENUES OF RECYCLING
SCHEME
 Collection.
Capital and operating costs for collection or recycled material is approximately NZ$1.69
million (£540,973) [2]
per annum. Collection is funded
partly by the rates charged by the Council and partly through waste minimisation fee (incorporated in the
 landfill charge).
Treatment. NZ$1.48 million (£473,751) is given by the City Council to the Recovered Materials
Foundation to sort, bale, process and export materials
(less sales revenue). Treatment is funded by waste minimisation fee.
 Compost Activities.
NZ$2.26 million (£723,431) per annum is paid for the operation of the compost plant.
Compost activities yield NZ$1.75 million (£560,179) in revenues per annum. The short fall is made up from the waste minimisation fee.
Revenues from recycling amount to NZ$800,000 (£256,081) per annum. The prices attached to secondary materials, for example, cullet and crushed glass for sandblasting depends on size, ranging from heavy to medium, light and polished grades, and varies from NZ$ 100 to NZ$ 150 (£32 to £48) per tonne
A11.6 SUCCESS OF THE SCHEME
The success of the scheme is attributed to the public and
Council commitment to recycling. Separate collection

services were established in 1998, and rates of separation are reported as being high. A problem that has emerged is that the general public tend to include the wrong materials in the green bins. This is being rectified through education about material types through the media. Materials that have been sorted incorrectly are left in green bins with a sticker indicating why the waste has been rejected.
A11.7 LEGAL/ REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS
Currently, there are no legal requirements in Christchurch to recycle. To date, central government has no role in recycling.
The majority of their efforts have been devoted to hazardous waste management. New government policy is seeking to change this situation, but this is still in manifesto form. The current government’s pre-election Green Agenda in 1999 included a target of 40 per cent reduction in the solid waste stream by 2010, and proposed to establish a New Zealand
Waste Reduction Working Party, funded by a modest levy to be collected by the owners of all landfills.
A11.8 FISCAL INCENTIVES
A11.8.1 Waste Disposal Costs
Landfill disposal is charged at NZ$55.70 (£18) per tonne.
These landfill charges include a waste minimisation fee of
NZ$15.20 (£5) per tonne. NZ$1 (£0.64) per tonne of the waste minimisation fee will be used to establish a revolving loan fund for the Recovered Materials Foundation in
1999/2000.
No incineration is carried out for domestic non-hazardous waste.
A11.8.2 Charging Systems for Waste Management
Collection of recyclables and refuse is financed from rates.
Disposing of refuse and green waste at the refuse stations is charged on a user pays basis, see Table A11.2. The disposal charges includes a waste minimisation fee that funds recycling treatments, compost operations and other waste minimisation projects.
Table A11.2 Schedule of fees for waste delivered at civic amenity sites

Type of waste
General refuse
Sorted mixed refuse/green waste (at least 50% separated green)
Cost
(£/tonne)
18
13
Sorted mixed refuse/construction & demolition waste (at least 50% separated)
14
Sorted mixed construction & demolition waste/green waste
(at least 50% separated green)
8
10 Construction & demolition waste/soil (less than 5% organic)
Minimum charge in any category 1.60
A11.9 PUBLIC AWARENESS
Public awareness in Christchurch is relatively high. NZ$ 140
000 (£44 814) per annum is spent on ongoing information provision and the promotion of recycling. Key results from a public survey are listed below.
 73 per cent of the public consider waste to be a big or very big problem (although not one of the three most important issues that the Council is faced with);
 One in ten members of the general public do not know what happens to recyclable materials;
 72 per cent of the general public think that Council should take overall responsibility and ownership of the city’s waste;
 Nearly all respondents agree that they try to minimise waste, but acknowledge that they need to be shown how.
Public information activities currently used to promote recycling include dissemination in local papers, radio, and local television media on a monthly basis; public displays and talks to groups and schools. Any material that is rejected at the kerbside by collectors is given an information sticker explaining why.
A11.10 MARKETS FOR END PRODUCTS
New Zealand has less well developed markets for recycled materials, due to its isolation from world markets and transport costs within New Zealand. Exceptions have

traditionally been paper and glass. Glass is processed in
Auckland, but in the last few years the company has stopped subsidising transport costs for the glass, which has placed economic pressure on the councils which previously collected and sent to Auckland. The highest number of processing plants is found in Auckland.
The Christchurch City Council funds the Recovered
Materials Foundation to investigate ways that recyclable materials can be used locally and provide jobs to develop local markets for recyclables and to develop viable economic uses of ‘waste’ material.
A key market development initiative is funded by the
Recovered Materials Foundation who administer a revolving loan fund to encourage businesses to utilise the materials collected from the kerbside. NZ$ 1 from the waste minimisation fee is being used to establish the fund. Local businesses are able to apply for three levels of grants for business opportunities that will take materials from the waste stream. Table A11.3 indicates the level of assistance provided:
Table A11.3 Financial support given under the Recovered
Materials Foundation
Fund
Investigation fund
Feasibility fund
Level of assistance
A grant of up to £1,600 matched in kind or cash by the applicant
A grant of up to £320 - £6 400 supplemented with monetary investment by the applicant
Loan fund
£1,600 - £38,400
Objective
Research the viability of a new idea, concept or technology.
Develop technical and business viability of a business proposal.
To expand or start a business.
A Waste Exchange Service provided at NZ$ 50,000 (£16,000) per annum matches buyers and sellers or recycled materials and encouraging buy-back of products with recycled content.
Future market development initiatives include a paper palletising operation in Christchurch (Fibrecycle) and the production of industrial boiler fuel (fuel pellets) from mixed grade waste paper.
The current end uses of the material recycled in Christchurch are found in Table A11.4.

Table A11.4 End Uses for Recycled Materials
Material
 Glass bottles/jars
Use
 Some re-used;
 Crushed for sandblasting, swimming pool filters, flooring tiles, architectural coating, glass tyres.
 Corrugated cardboard
 Exported to Asian markets
 Metals
 Old newspapers
 PET/HDPE



Exported to Asian markets
Exported
Baled for export to Asian Markets
Compost, produced at a central composting facility, is sold locally through joint venture with a private company.
City Council revenues derived from recycled products are put back into recycling and waste minimisation projects and schemes.
A11.11 FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
Future developments for Christchurch are listed below.
 increasing capacity of civic amenity sites, with more
 people to help unload trailers; better weighing-in procedures and storage facilities at
 civic amenity sites; increasing the coverage of waste collected at the kerbside, for example, magazines and flyers;
 hazardous waste collection at refuse stations;
 introducing recycling ‘supermarkets’ where reused materials can be sold once repaired and checked and therefore kept from the waste stream;
 developing markets for recycled materials through the

Recovered Materials Foundation; imposing surcharge for materials disposed that should be recycled.

[1] More can be bought at 80 cents per bag.
[2] FT 19/04/00; 3.124 NZD = £1
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Published 26 April 2001
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